Aurora kinases as targets for cancer therapy

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Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Real-Time Monitoring of Aurora kinase A Activation using Conformational FRET Biosensors in Live Cells
06:29

Real-Time Monitoring of Aurora kinase A Activation using Conformational FRET Biosensors in Live Cells

Published on: July 30, 2020

Giannis Mountzios1, Evangelos Terpos, Meletios-Athanassios Dimopoulos

  • 1Department of Medical Oncology, 251 General Airforce Hospital, Athens, Greece. gmountzios@med.uoa.gr

Cancer Treatment Reviews
|November 21, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Aurora kinases are crucial for cell division and are often overexpressed in cancers. Inhibiting these kinases shows promise as a new anticancer therapy, with several drugs in clinical trials.

Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Oncology

Background:

  • Aurora kinases are serine/threonine kinases essential for mitotic spindle assembly and cell division.
  • Overexpression of Aurora kinases is observed in various tumor cell lines, implicating them in tumorigenesis.
  • These kinases regulate critical processes like centrosome duplication, separation, and cytokinesis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To provide a comprehensive overview of Aurora kinases as molecular targets for anticancer therapy.
  • To discuss their physiological role in mitosis and implications in oncogenesis.
  • To review pre-clinical and clinical studies of Aurora kinase inhibitors.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing literature on Aurora kinase biology and inhibitors.
  • Analysis of pre-clinical data supporting Aurora kinase inhibitors.
  • Summary of ongoing phase I and II clinical trials for Aurora kinase inhibitors.

Main Results:

  • Inhibition of Aurora kinase activity can lead to mitotic arrest and cell death.
  • Aurora kinase inhibitors have demonstrated acceptable toxicity profiles and promising efficacy in early clinical trials.
  • Extensive pre-clinical evidence supports their development for specific tumor types.

Conclusions:

  • Aurora kinases represent a promising target for novel anticancer therapies.
  • Further development of Aurora kinase inhibitors is warranted based on current pre-clinical and clinical data.
  • Understanding their role in mitosis and oncogenesis is key to optimizing therapeutic strategies.

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